From London’s holly-sellers to Engels’s flaming Christmas centrepiece, the plum pudding was more than festive fare in Victorian Britain, says KEITH FLETT
Shuffle to the right: the politics of Labour's top team changes
Morning Star editor BEN CHACKO says roles that have disappeared completely are as important as the appointments in understanding the party’s direction
Sir Keir Starmer flanked by the shadow great officers of state David Lammy (foreign), Yvette Cooper (home) and Rachel Reeves (exchequer)
Once the bustling heart of Christian pilgrimage, Bethlehem now faces shuttered hotels, empty streets and a shrinking Christian community, while Israel’s assault on Gaza and the tightening grip of occupation destroy hopes of peace at the birthplace of Christ, writes Father GEOFF BOTTOMS
From a lockdown digital project to a vital tool for class solidarity, ROBERT POOLE and HENRY FOWLER reflect on half-a-decade of struggle
After years hidden away, Oldham’s memorial to six local volunteers who died fighting fascism in the Spanish civil war has been restored to public view, marking both a victory for campaigners and a renewed tribute to the town’s proud International Brigade heritage, says ROB HARGREAVES
The June 2025 attacks on Iran have heightened the risk of a wider war, exposed the fiction of a rules-based international order and left ordinary Iranians trapped between external aggression and internal repression, says the Committee for Defence of Iranian People’s Rights
While pretending to seek peace, Europe is heading toward a collision course with Russia – using security guarantees, troop deployments, expropriation and censorship as tools, writes SEVIM DAGDELEN
A WWI hero, renowned ornithologist, medical doctor, trade union organiser and founder member of the Communist Party of Great Britain all rolled in one. MAT COWARD tells the story of a life so improbable it was once dismissed as fiction
KEIR STARMER says his reshuffle provides a “smaller, more focused shadow cabinet that mirrors the shape of the government we are shadowing.”
As we know at least one of the departures — Cat Smith, who is apparently not being replaced as shadow secretary for young people and democracy — quit on principle, its smaller size may not be entirely Starmer’s choice, but his words do point to an important aspect of the new line-up.
As well as a shuffle to the right, it marks another quiet step away from the transformational ambition of Labour under Jeremy Corbyn, where the purpose of the top team was not simply to shadow existing ministers but to flesh out what Labour planned to do in power, including in areas of no interest to the Conservatives.
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